News

The Climate Box - UNDP presents a toolkit for schoolchildren of Uzbekistan

Date: 26.06.2018

On 25-26 June 2018, the "Poytakht" Business Center in Tashkent hosted a presentation of the Climate Box - an interactive learning toolkit on climate change for schoolchildren.

The seminar is targeted at methodologists and teachers of the Republican Center of Education under the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the secondary schools of Tashkent, specialists of Uzhydromet, representatives of EKOMAKTAB (a non-governmental non-profit organization) and the National University named after Mirzo Ulugbek. The participants were welcomed by Mr. Bakhriddin Nishonov, First Deputy General Director of the Centre of Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and H.E. Mr. Vladimir Tyurdenev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Uzbekistan, and Mr. Khurshid Rustamov, Head of the division for Sustainable development, UNDP in Uzbekistan.

In 2014, recognizing the importance of climate change, the United Nations Development Programme developed the Climate Box - a new toolkit for educational institutions to raise awareness among youth and the public at large about the impact of climate change on the environment. It's a kind of illustrated guide that explains in fascinating and accessible manner the process of the Earth's climate change for many centuries, and the current situation. Colorful charts and graphs allow visualizing the impact of these changes on nature and human, describe measures aimed at adapting to negative consequences and preventing risks posed by global warming, as well as steps being taken in various countries around the world. With the assistance of a team of experts from the Russian Federation, the toolkit has been successfully tested in 157 schools of Russia, and more than 500 teachers have been trained on interactive learning methodology. In 2015, it was translated into English and presented at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris (COP-21). A year later, the toolkit was introduced in the countries of Central Asia: the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan.

During the two days, the trainers from the Russian Federation were sharing their experience in introduction and use of the toolkit in other countries. The participants of the training familiarized themselves with the contents of the Climate Box and revealed the peculiarities of working with the toolkit, and learned methodologies on how to build a dialogue with the children through individual exercise assignments. Also, educational games, crosswords, quizzes and quests, which allow to easily learn the material while playing and to apply the gained knowledge in everyday life, were demonstrated. As an example, the experience of promotion of the project in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and other CIS countries was presented at the seminar.

During the discussions, it was decided to select some schools for piloting the toolkit in Tashkent and in Karakalpakstan as the latter one is a region that is most vulnerable to climate change impacts. In the future, it is planned to organize series of training seminars for teachers specialized in natural sciences and methodologists for wider dissemination and use of this toolkit countrywide.